Pool Cleaning
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: It's Team Natsu's turn to clean the pool, only for Lucy to find that her entire team has ditched the duty except for her. Armada project: 47/365


**I know I say this often, but I had a lot of fun writing this. I originally thought I was going to go angsty for this pairing, but I went fluffy humor instead, with plenty of Raijinshuu team antics (which soothe the soul, I'm telling you).**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Leaning heavily on her mop, Lucy let out a massive sigh. Cleaning the guild's pool should not be taking as long as it was, but the crew of morons that had agreed to do it with her – aka her team – had somehow mysteriously vanished when it came time to actually do it. Which meant that she had to do it all by herself if she wanted the pool to be refilled to swim in. Normally she would hunt her team down for this slight, but Lucy was so exhausted trying to do it all on her own that she didn't think she had the energy left over to deal with them.

Her progress thus far was minimal. Most of the pool was still coated in green slime, wedged into the mortar between the tiles. Not only was it gross, it was pretty slick as well. Not to mention that she kept having to pause and dump her bucket as it turned forest green from the gunk on her mop. It smelled pretty rank. It was amazing how much grime could accumulate in a pool in just a month. To polish off the tour de disgusting was the absolutely rank stench that permeated _everything._

If her memory served, it was Team Shadow Gear that had done it last. Lucy could vaguely recall laughing at hearing about Jet trying to use his magic to clean it faster, only to slip on the slimy pool tiles and go careening across the length of the pool to smash his face into the wall. Now it wasn't quite as hilarious, as she struggled to keep her feet firmly beneath her.

Oh her team was so paying for bailing on this.

"Lucy?"

She glanced up at the sound of her name, surprised to see Laxus staring down at her. "Hi, Laxus," she responded with a smile, glad for the interruption. Now she had an excuse to take a longer break. "What's up?"

"What are you doing, cleaning by yourself?" he asked, his brow furrowed. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this supposed to be a group effort?"

"They ditched me," Lucy informed him bluntly. "So I thought I'd get it done by myself, but…" She gestured broadly at the profound lack of progress that was clearly visible. "It's not going too well, as you can see."

"Ah."

He continued to hold her gaze for a few moments, just long enough for Lucy to get slightly uncomfortable, as she had nothing further to say and neither did he. Her gaze drifted to one of the green puddles that sat at the bottom of the pool with her. Stagnant, just like this conversation.

Lucy cleared her throat in an effort to break silence between them. "So… what brings you poolside?"

"I heard groaning out here and came to check it out." He grinned as her cheeks colored slightly. "Hold on there for a second."

Then he disappeared from view, and Lucy was left staring at the place he'd been in confusion. Shrugging, she dunked her mop in the bucket, and then went back to scrubbing. After a few minutes, she heard noises coming from the direction of the guild, and paused.

When she looked up, she was surprised to see Evergreen climbing down into the pool with her. She even had a mop and a bucket in hand. "The boys take longer to get ready, but they'll be coming along shortly as well," Evergreen informed her curtly. "I can't believe your team abandoned you on this. We'll have to give them a talking-to later."

Lucy gaped at Evergreen, not fully processing what was happening.

The other woman let out a laugh at her expression. "Laxus said that you were toiling away down here by yourself. What kind of guildmates would we be if we didn't lend you a hand?"

"Th-thank you!" Lucy squeaked, floored by their kindness.

Evergreen smiled at her. "That's more like what I was looking for. I'll get started in this corner," she indicated the one opposite Lucy on the shorter side, "and meet you halfway."

"I'd really appreciate that."

"Yo, cosplayer!" Bickslow called, dropping in as well. "Heard you could use some help!"

With a grin, she waved enthusiastically at the tall man. "Yeah, thanks!"

"No problem!"

Freed and Laxus weren't far behind, Freed picking up the hose to rinse the scrubbed areas and Laxus grabbing another mop.

"Hope we're not imposing," Freed told her, refilling Lucy's bucket after she dumped it.

"Not at all. I really appreciate the help," she replied, truly grateful for their appearance. "It would have taken me all day, otherwise. But are you guys sure you're okay with doing all this work when it's not even your turn?"

Laxus laughed from somewhere deep in his gut. "I told Gramps what you're dealing with, and got him to change the schedule. We'll help you out today, and the rest of your team will take our original cleaning day. He was pretty annoyed that they'd ditched you like that, so he arranged for them to clean it in August."

She couldn't help but laugh and wince at the same time upon hearing that. "They're definitely not going to enjoy that."

"Why didn't you call your spirits for help?" Evergreen asked. "Wouldn't it go much faster with them?"

With a shake of her head, Lucy replied, "I can't really summon them for something as domestic as this. They've got their own lives to lead – I'd feel bad about taking them away from them just to help me out with chores."

"Even though it's a really smelly and nasty chore?"

"Yeah, even then! Although, now that I think about it, Virgo might've enjoyed it if I told her it was a punishment." Lucy rolled her eyes, imagining the pink-haired spirit's reaction. "Yeah, she probably would have."

"Your spirits are just as perverted as you are," Bickslow commented. Suddenly, he spluttered as Freed turned the hose on him.

"Don't." The green-haired man stared flatly at his friend. "Just don't."

"It's on, now!" Bickslow shouted, raising his mop threateningly. "Prepare to get slimed, Freed!"

Alarm flashed across the rune mage's face. "Don't you dare!" he hissed, backing away from his teammate. "I still have the hose!"

Bickslow dashed forward, swinging the mop, and Freed let out a screech. The mop missed, instead sliming Evergreen – who was less than thrilled at this. She threw her entire bucket at Bickslow with a war cry, spraying the lot of them with an arc of green water.

As the situation devolved between the three teammates, Lucy broke down laughing at their antics.

Seeing that nothing was getting done, Laxus stood next to her watching them as well. "They're a pretty lively bunch, aren't they?" he commented.

"They sure are!" she agreed. "I gotta say, they remind me a little of my own team." At his incredulous snort, she let out another giggle. "Deny the truth all you want, but it doesn't change reality!" Then she turned to look up at the hulk of a man. "Thanks, Laxus. I'm really, truly grateful for you and your team's help with this."

He shrugged, smiling back down at her. "You would have done the same for us."

"I'm not so sure about that!" she admitted, her grin widening. "This is pretty gross."

Mischievousness crept into his expression. "Is it?" He then ruffled her hair, coating it in slime. "How about now?"

With a screech of indignation, Lucy followed suit with the rest of the Raijinshuu, wielding her mop at the now laughing dragon slayer.

Cleaning the pool ended up taking most of the day, after all, and by the end of it, they were all feeling pretty disgusting. But Lucy didn't feel as if the day had been wasted in the slightest.

When she had finally cleaned herself up and gotten back to the guild, she found her team and proceeded to give them an earful. It turned out that they had forgotten what day it was. All of them. They were very apologetic about it, which made Lucy feel a little better about them leaving her to do it by herself, and she elicited promises from them that they would invest in calendars.

After all was said and done, though, it had been a lot of fun to spend time with Laxus and his team.

Maybe she should do so more often.


End file.
